Ignite interest in STEM and bridge the gap between learning in the classroom and the real world! Peruse from a variety of short 10 minute interactive videos that highlight real-world problems. Videos are aligned to STEM curricula throughout the US and contributed by partnerships with businesses, government agencies, non-profits, and academic institutions. Use the resources to engage your students in problem-solving and inquiry based learning. Videos and resources are found in the Science, Technology, and Math tabs. Be sure to click the Educator tab for downloadable resources to help you Plan, Engage, and Inspire with your students. While looking at the materials in the Educator tab, find a Best Practices webinar date you can attend (held monthly). This one hour training session is instrumental in using the interactive video and instructional materials to facilitate inquiry based learning effectively and increase 21st century skills in your students. Each video includes resources developed by Industry, lessons by educators, and education pathways for students seeking careers in certain STEM careers.

In the Classroom

The most difficult part of teaching science is finding time to develop effective problem-solving, good inquiry learning, and connecting learning to STEM careers. Use Spark 101 resources to make this easier. Participate in a training video to effectively use any of the resources offered on the site. Be sure to view the Spark 101 Lesson Plan Supports (in the educator tab) for templates and lesson plans. Download other resources to engage students in learning before introducing the videos. The student engagement focus in the videos engage students in creative and collaborative thinking. Search for videos that can be used for a variety of content. Examples include Species Diversity and River Quality, Using Tower Cranes to Solve Engineering Problems, and Using Expected Value to Determine Health Insurance Premiums. After sharing the video, use other resources for students to collaboratively solve problems. Share these videos from industry when students ask "When will I use this?" Use these resources also in your Gifted program or Science Club.

Create and personalize a music playlist using Musicovery. Hover your mouse over different areas of the mood pad to define your radio settings of energetic, dark, positive, or calm. Narrow choices by different genres such as pop, soundtracks, world music, and more. A song list starts playing once you selected the mood. Create an account to save favorites for use later.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Be sure to share this link with students and parents looking for less distracting sounds while brainstorming or working. Note that songs with words will probably distract, so you may want to stick to classical or other instrumental options. Reading a book to the class or conducting a science lab? Turn up your speakers and use calming sounds as mood music to set the stage for your story. Play a few minutes of relaxing sounds before a major test. Let a student "DJ" choose a class relaxation or creativity soundscape. If you have "silent reading" time in your class or school, calm music will help students to focus. As you talk with students about discovering their learning styles, offer this site as a suggestion for them to try while prewriting or studying for tests. Emotional support and autistic support teachers may want to experiment to see if these sounds can help their students.

The Free Dictionary is much more than a dictionary; it also includes a thesaurus, encyclopedias, a literature reference library, and lots more! Browse the home page to find Word of the Day, Article of the Day, In the News, Quotations, Today's Birthday and Holiday, and Hangman. Choose the Spelling Bee to test spelling skills in levels. Your ESL/ELL students can discover and "play" with English words using this site. Browse to find dictionaries for many other languages and specialized needs such as medical and legal dictionaries.

In the Classroom

Set this site as the home page on classroom computers for students to read and find interesting articles and games. Create an account to customize the page to display information to suit class needs. Use information found on this site for quotes, interesting trivia, and much more. Display on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and discuss articles and information with your class.

Create video messages with SnapCuts' interactive tools and public domain video clips. Browse the categorized database of video clips and drag clips to the "Snapper" bar to create a 30 second video. Add text to any clip. Then share by email, URL, or social media links. Create a free account to save your SnapCuts for future use or editing. Some of the video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always create view the gallery or create your own Snapcuts at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

SnapCuts is ideal to use as an anticipatory set to introduce a unit or lesson. Use a projector or interactive whiteboard to show students how to get around on Snapcuts. Have students create SnapCuts to show traits of characters, events in literature, or the essence of different time periods in history. Share with students to include in multimedia projects. Include premade SnapCuts in professional development presentations for inspiration and motivation.

PicGhost is a batch image editor that does all work online without any software downloads. Drag and drop (or select) up to 40 images from your computer or import images from Facebook, Flickr, or Picasa for each batch edit. Once files upload, start editing to resize, add watermarks, add effects, and more. When finished, apply edits and download the finished image to your computer. This is a very handy way to resize a group of images at once! Add watermarks to your own photos so others will not use them without permission.

In the Classroom

Use PicGhost anytime photos need to be edited on class blogs, wikis, or sites. In primary grades, use this tool to edit pictures from a field trip, science experiments, and more. Share the editing process together with your younger students using your interactive whiteboard or projector, and edit the project together! Encourage older students to use this tool themselves on images for projects or presentations. Use PicGhost to edit pictures to look "old" when doing historical reports or to set a mood.

Take your class on virtual field trips through using Google hangouts, and, of course, Google. Participate in live events by signing up for upcoming field trips. Most trips include activities for students as well as opportunities for question and answer sessions. If you missed an event, no problem. Simply click the link to previous field trips to view at your convenience. Previous field trips have included visits to the San Diego Zoo, The White House Christmas decorations, and Ken Burns discussing the Gettysburg Address. If your district blocks YouTube, then parts of this site may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube. Hangouts require a Google account and may be blocked in some schools. Always test ahead of time before planning a class "trip."

In the Classroom

Share the field trip offerings with your class, and together decide on field trips to take that fit with your curriculum. Before the presentation have students brainstorm or collect ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Scrumblr, reviewed here (quick start- no membership required). After the virtual presentation have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here or Venngage reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a person involved with the virtual presentation.

Find five lesson plans that meet the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts to do digital storytelling using video. Sign up (email required) to get started. Lessons are based on inquiry and solid writing. Students then convert their writing into a movie or podcast. The choices include a conservation issue where the students write a persuasive essay and use the argument to create a public service announcement, book talks, news casts, and more. To sign up, simply fill in a short registration form and start downloading your digital story telling choice.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Why re-invent the wheel? Take a look at these plans for inquiry based research and the projects for summative assessment to infuse into your lessons. The digital storytelling lesson plans are free, and so are some of the resources they suggest using, such as Pics4Learning reviewed here. However, the video program (Frames) that the lesson advises is not free. Instead, use Picovico reviewed here, or Animoto reviewed here.

Learn fascinating information in video format on a plethora of different topics. As you click through, click FREE at the top of each category to se only the free offerings. Choose from categories such as Game On, Curious 52, Art and Photo, Smarty Pants, Fit and Active, and Health and Beauty. There is so much more: Learn to Code, Great Outdoors, Popular, Fancy Pants, Around the House, Staff Picks, Pocket Perfect, Language, Crafting, Green Thumb, Software, Tasty Treats, Song and Dance, Business Savvy, and Party Time. Each video has a clickable "timeline" under it where you can read about the video, find lessons, make comments, find related topics, and see assignments. Teach others your skill or talent. Send Curious cards to teachers or others to show what you know. Be aware, not all of the video clips are free.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Check out the offerings for videos that support or extend your curriculum. Have your students find a lesson to learn or even a lesson to teach. Be sure to show them where to click "free" to narrow the listings. After previewing Curious on an interactive whiteboard or projector, choose a video to evaluate and gather the important parts of the information. Small groups could each choose a different video. Have students create their own lessons in content areas using these as a model. As you teach about informational text, this is the perfect example of digital writing to convey information. Suggest this site at a parent night to help keep everyone lifetime learners. Be sure to post a link on your website for parents and students to access at home.

Garbology is an interactive that teaches about garbage and answers the question, "Where should my waste go?" While exploring, uncover startling facts about trash, waste, recycling, reuse, landfills, and composting. Find lessons and activities to extend your Garbology knowledge, from how to pack a waste-less lunch to getting the dirt on composting. The Trash Talk blog gives stories of conservation in practice.

In the Classroom

Sweeten the smell of garbage at Garbology with this engaging site. Introduce the site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore independently or in small groups. Tickle students' interest and get them digging away at Garbology! Use at centers or offer as a resource for projects on conservation. Put students into groups and offer a different lesson for every group. Students can then create and share their findings in a multimedia presentation! Introduce at science night and challenge families with a new goal: reducing waste! As a school, compete between classrooms to discover all of the changes that each can make. Collect data, analyze, and present findings.

Slack is a real-time messaging tool for teams that includes archiving and search features. Create channels for different groups or teams to include messages, files, images, and more for sharing. Drag and drop files work with Google Docs, Dropbox, Twitter, and others making it easy to share across several different platforms. Easily search Slack archives to find discussions, documents, and more.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share this resource with high school students working on group projects for better group communication, managing workflow, and more. Take the time during the first week of school or as group projects approach to model how to plan and manage group processes using such a tool. Use this tool with school clubs, as well. Manage professional discussions by creating channels for different departmental or grade level teams.

Create a polished, professional live chat on your blog or class site with this FREE tool. Create a "How Can I Help You?" message to pop-up as parents and students visit the page. When in an active chat, visitors receive a pop-up asking if they wish to join the chat. This tool runs on every platform and mobile device. Be sure to check out the demo tab to understand how to use the tool in your website. Add the HTML code into your site to add the chat box and features. Use this tool to analyze site traffic so you can identify what is most used by students and parents.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create a chat message pop-up for the most frequently asked questions students and parents have about finding items on your classroom site. Offer a set time for office hours published well in advance for parents and students to drop in and ask questions about assignments, homework help, or any other questions that they may have. Set up a chat time early in the school year for "meet and greet" so parents discover your website or for those who are unable to attend back to school night! Cut down on email! Encourage students to identify the questions they (or their parents) have the most as you develop the scope for your chat. ESL/ELL teachers can use the chat to provide extra written language practice for their students in an engaging way! Use the chat with your colleagues in a Teacher Lounge format to help each other in the appropriate use of technology, content sharing, or professional development.

ClassFlow is more than a lesson builder, more than a presentation tool, more than an assessment tool; it is all of these and more! Access everything in one place: create, present, and share lessons; connect, poll, and assess students with devices they use every day. After registering, you will receive a welcome email with several "getting started" links. The lesson developer is a very powerful tool, with options for embedding, linking, or adding images and shapes. There are also annotating/highlighting tools, and more. Demonstration videos hosted on YouTube show how to have students sign up via a web browser. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Any teacher can take advantage of ClassFlow. It is a good idea to view the YouTube video for creating a lesson on ClassFlow. Become familiar with this program, and have students present projects using ClassFlow. Since ClassFlow is an interactive and collaborative program, have literature circles complete write ups, discussions, and final presentations about the book they read using ClassFlow. Lab partners can present their findings, and math students can demonstrate how they solved a problem.

Any.do is an online to-do list to manage daily tasks across all devices. Create your account and start adding things you need to do. Choose from today, tomorrow, upcoming, or someday in the Time View format. Click the folder icon to sort lists into work, personal, or a folder you name. Choices include adding a time for tasks, options for reoccurrence, and an alarm reminder. Download the Any.do app to sync tasks seamlessly across any iOs or Android device and your computer.

In the Classroom

Any student might appreciate having an online time management account, but learning support students and disorganized gifted students need one. You may want to model using this online tool to help middle and high school students learn personal organization. Share this site the first week of school to get students started on the right foot! Make a demo account for a mythical student and organize his/her daily schedule together so students can see how it works. Share the steps on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Alternately, this idea will work with group projects where students need to learn to manage their project time.

Made with Code is a Google initiative with a goal of getting young women and girls excited about learning to write code. Choose from several different projects such as customizing a bracelet, creating an accessorized selfie, designing an avatar, or making a custom animated gif. Follow easy step by step directions for coding and completing each project. Receive your 3D printed bracelet free in 3 to 4 weeks upon completion of your design! All projects use Blockly programming language to code and personalize projects.

In the Classroom

Although Made with Code is aimed at girls, all students will love creating and designing projects with this fun website. Demonstrate how to use the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Allow students to create projects on their own. Include customized avatars or gifs on your class website or with students' multimedia projects. If students create their own blog, challenge them to create a customized avatar. Made with Code would be a great addition for use with after school technology programs or during your school's technology fair. Include in your math or science class to help students learn logical thinking. Be sure to include a link to this site on your class website or blog for students to "play" with at home.

Easily track time spent on projects without time sheets! Enter your task and click to begin tracking. View the day-by-day breakdown of time spent on the activities. Generate summary, detailed, or weekly reports. Use this tool to create teams and generate team reports. Invite members by email and mark team data as public or private as needed. Use multiple machines in the day? No problem. Time is tracked across multiple devices including Android and iOs.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Introduce this tool to students as you talk about study skills and homework habits at the start of the school year. Make it part of your lessons on "how to study" or part of your first long term project, especially with disorganized middle schoolers (and gifted students). Have students track how they are spending their time outside of school and make resolutions about how they can adjust it to improve grades, etc. Even teachers need to track time spent on activities. Record time spent in preparing lessons, collaborating, maintaining your PLN, communicating with parents, extra-curricular activities, and more. This tool is beneficial with student groups and tracking time spent on activities. Be sure that students break down the specific responsibilities needed for the project and separate them out to the group. Students can show the work they completed as well as the summary report of time spent. Students can use this information as self-reflection upon completion of any class project and see the possible impact of time well spent!

Spend some time with this real-time typing competition to increase your typing speed AND accuracy. Nitro has multiplayer typing car races where competition is against either other unknown members or with friends. At the signal to go, racers type the words they see on the screen and mistakes are highlighted in pink as you go. Correcting a mistake while racing is do-able. The faster you type, the faster your race car will speed ahead. Race as a guest to try this typing game, or sign up to keep track of your progress or to race against friends.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently, or have a team competition as students use the site on an interactive whiteboard to see who is the fastest AND the most accurate keyboarder. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers to use it as a center. Get the ear-buds or headphones out as the races are noisy! Be sure to monitor the multiplayer chat function when students are using this program in class. Nitro Type is not a "teach typing" website; it is purely for practice. To teach typing visit Typing Web, reviewed here.

Create and personalize online surveys quickly with SoGoSurvey's easy to use online platform. This survey tool will work on ANY device. Step by step wizards guide you through the process of adding images, videos, logos, and more. There are many features including steps for using the survey process and even receiving email alerts for negative responses. Choose from over 25 sample surveys to modify or start your own from scratch. Add questions in multiple-choice format or more complex matrix grid formats. Share completed surveys via email invitations or social networking links. The free account allows you to create up to 15 surveys with 75 questions and up to 200 responses. Use this tool anywhere a quick, simple poll is required and on any device! This tool works on mobile device browsers.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

If you've never used a poll before or would like to like to use survey information more effectively, click on Solutions in the top menu, and slide down to K-12 to begin. There you will find field-tested templates for schools and a link for the "survey process." Share polls on BYOD devices or laptops/tablets to assess prior knowledge as you start a new unit and ask questions about the material. If you do not have individual devices, project the survey to uncover misconceptions by having students discuss in groups why they would choose a particular answer. Use for daily quiz questions as a formative assessment. Use a class account to have student groups alternate to create a new poll for the next day. Place a poll on your teacher web page as a homework inspiration or to ask parent questions and increase involvement. Older students may want to include polls on their student blogs to increase reader engagement. Have students create polls for the start of project presentations. Use polls to generate data for math class (graphing), during elections, or for critical thinking activities dealing with the interpretation of statistics. Engage students using "real" data from a survey about issues and current events that matter to them.

Let the games begin with ARIS, an open-source, web-based platform to create and play mobile games, tours, and interactive stories that will run on iOS devices. ARIS stands for Augmented Reality for Interactive Storytelling. ARIS is an authoring environment for non-programmers, and also a toolbox of useful code for people that want to make their own interactive mobile apps. You will experience a virtual world of interactive characters, items, and media using GPS and QR Codes through Google Maps reviewed here. During the games, you can trade items with other characters, drop them on the map, get them from characters, or have them taken away. Download the free ARIS app to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad to play the games. After creating your player account, select from a list of ARIS experiences. Each game will start on the quest screen, and the quests will likely tell you to go somewhere physically. Open the map screen to see your position and destination to begin the game. QR codes are used to help ARIS determine your position as you complete the quests. A few games contain codes that can be used to access some of the content remotely.

Use the ARIS Editor to create your own games under the "Make Games" section of the site. A separate account is needed to play games, but you can use the same username and password if you want. You'll begin with a Google map on the main screen where you can search to zoom into a particular place in the world. Use the object pallet located on the left-side of your screen to create characters, items, and plaques. Drag and drop the items you authored onto your map to build your interactive game. When your game is ready to publish, you need to set up your iOS device to work with the server for the authoring tool. You need to change the server URL under the ARIS settings to http://arisgames.org/stagingserver1.

In the Classroom

Use ARIS to teach your students game design. Connect your students more deeply with their surroundings using this augmented reality experience. Begin by having your students create mock-ups of ARIS games using pen and paper. Create interactive games around your school, campus, or community for your students to complete. Send your students on scavenger hunts to explore geometric shapes, nature, and history. Have your students create games for a field trip or visitors to explore your community. Create educational scavenger hunts for your students or have them create their own scavenger hunt for their classmates. Creating a game would be a wonderful challenge for your gifted students to take their knowledge beyond the required curriculum. Create mysteries for the students to solve as they explore their surroundings or challenge your students to create mysteries for their classmates to solve.

Find a gem of an infographic with a multitude of action verbs for the different tiers of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. This colorful, eye-pleasing infographic of verbs starts at the top of the taxonomy with higher order thinking skills (HOTS). Learn some new HOTS words to use yourself or with students.

In the Classroom

Post this infographic in your classroom to discuss higher order thinking skills vs lower order thinking skills and where the task at hand would fall. Keep this infographic handy as you develop projects and new lesson ideas. Embed the infographic on your class website or blog.

Fake iPhone text is a tool to create fake screenshots of a series of iPhone text messages. Enter your conversation including name and message. Click the link "Create" to view the picture. Take a screenshot or copy the URL to share.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Have students create texts between two characters from a book or two famous people. Create short poetry in text message form. Provide some opening text and ask students to write their ideas for the other person's answers. Use a text sequence as a prompt for creative writing. Have students practice creating a short dialogue or questions and answers. Create a fake text of a conversation and have students use inference skills to determine what happened before and after the conversation. Teach proper texting etiquette and digital citizenship using this tool. Use a fake text on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to display word definitions in a new way. Create fake texts of homework or project reminders and post them on your class wiki or web page. Make fake text book promotions to share on the dust jackets.